The Brad Stevens Era
Now for those of you who don't know me, I bleed green. I have a passion for all sports New England but I have always felt a special connection to the Celtics. However I don't let this passion blind me, I am an informed viewer and it is because of this that I had only slight resignations with trading KG and Pierce, the cornerstone of our organization since I was 8 years old.
I know keeping them would have kept us in NBA purgatory as a middle of the pack team so we did what we had to do and got the most for them that we could before they became useless, this isn't my problem. And neither is the hiring of Brad Stevens who I think with some time will be one of the top coaches in the league.
My issue is and always has been with Danny Ainge. He's the type of GM to make one or 2 good moves every 5 years with a lot of very questionable decisions in between. One of the biggest mistakes I thought he made in recent years was drafting Marshon Brooks just to trade him to the Nets for JaJuan Johnson. Marshon looked like a perfect complimentary player coming off the bench to spell Pierce and Ray Allen playing in front of the same crowd he dazzled for the previous 4 years while playing at Providence College. He then landed in the doghouse in Jersey and fell into obscurity as they added Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace trying to make their push for a championship.
All the while JaJuan Johnson has done literally nothing in the NBA over the course of his career. His highlight is being sent away for Courtney Lee, which is another move by Ainge that has not panned out. But Brooks got a second chance, much like Jeff Green to return to the team that drafted him as he was a throw in for the Pierce deal, and what do they do... They don't let him play. I would understand if the team had a winning chemistry and he was just at the bottom of the depth chart behind some superstars but thats not the case. The people perched in front of him are Avery Bradley, the aforementioned Courtney Lee, Jordan Crawford, and Keith Bogans. Really? Those 4 guys are who you want in the game when you absolutely need a basket... guys with below average offensive games and a tendency to turn it over when the games on the line?
Brooks is a bonafide scorer as proven by his entire collegiate career, so why not let him play. Whats the worst that could happen, you keep losing? The guy can light it up for a team that has a lot of guys too willing to pass up the shot. And for the life of me if Ainge trades Rondo or doesn't give that man a max contract I might have to switch teams. The man can ball, point blank. He is a stat machine and a damn near top 3 point guard in the NBA... DONT TRY TO SAY WESTBROOK IS BETTER.
My other issue is even if we do lose the most games this season, which it really looks like we might, that doesn't guarantee us anything more then a ticket into the Andrew Wiggins Raffle. The NBA lottery system is a joke that always seems to be marred by controversy and hardly ever gives the worst team the top pick. Not that I condone tanking but if it works in the NFL NHL and MLB why not use it in the NBA. We saw this all to similar story in 2007 when we won 24 which was worst in the East and only better then the Memphis Grizzlies yet we got stuck with the #5 pick taking us right out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes. Granted a higher pick would have never resulted in the trades for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, but who's to say we wouldn't be even better with a combination of Rondo Durant and Paul Pierce.
The NBA has a flawed system that is very easily manipulated, as seen by the Cavaliers getting 2 picks in the top 4 after seeing Lebron take home his 2nd championship since leaving Cleveland. I can give up thousands of conspiracy theories on how David Stern caters to certain teams while turning a blind eye to others but that would be just that, theories. Luckily Stern is gone in a few months so he wont have his fingers over another championship for whichever star he is favoring at the time.
Either way, basketball season is upon us and its a joyous time for everyone, unless you don't like Lebron in which case I'd suggest you stay away from Sportscenter
I know keeping them would have kept us in NBA purgatory as a middle of the pack team so we did what we had to do and got the most for them that we could before they became useless, this isn't my problem. And neither is the hiring of Brad Stevens who I think with some time will be one of the top coaches in the league.
My issue is and always has been with Danny Ainge. He's the type of GM to make one or 2 good moves every 5 years with a lot of very questionable decisions in between. One of the biggest mistakes I thought he made in recent years was drafting Marshon Brooks just to trade him to the Nets for JaJuan Johnson. Marshon looked like a perfect complimentary player coming off the bench to spell Pierce and Ray Allen playing in front of the same crowd he dazzled for the previous 4 years while playing at Providence College. He then landed in the doghouse in Jersey and fell into obscurity as they added Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace trying to make their push for a championship.
All the while JaJuan Johnson has done literally nothing in the NBA over the course of his career. His highlight is being sent away for Courtney Lee, which is another move by Ainge that has not panned out. But Brooks got a second chance, much like Jeff Green to return to the team that drafted him as he was a throw in for the Pierce deal, and what do they do... They don't let him play. I would understand if the team had a winning chemistry and he was just at the bottom of the depth chart behind some superstars but thats not the case. The people perched in front of him are Avery Bradley, the aforementioned Courtney Lee, Jordan Crawford, and Keith Bogans. Really? Those 4 guys are who you want in the game when you absolutely need a basket... guys with below average offensive games and a tendency to turn it over when the games on the line?
Brooks is a bonafide scorer as proven by his entire collegiate career, so why not let him play. Whats the worst that could happen, you keep losing? The guy can light it up for a team that has a lot of guys too willing to pass up the shot. And for the life of me if Ainge trades Rondo or doesn't give that man a max contract I might have to switch teams. The man can ball, point blank. He is a stat machine and a damn near top 3 point guard in the NBA... DONT TRY TO SAY WESTBROOK IS BETTER.
My other issue is even if we do lose the most games this season, which it really looks like we might, that doesn't guarantee us anything more then a ticket into the Andrew Wiggins Raffle. The NBA lottery system is a joke that always seems to be marred by controversy and hardly ever gives the worst team the top pick. Not that I condone tanking but if it works in the NFL NHL and MLB why not use it in the NBA. We saw this all to similar story in 2007 when we won 24 which was worst in the East and only better then the Memphis Grizzlies yet we got stuck with the #5 pick taking us right out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes. Granted a higher pick would have never resulted in the trades for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, but who's to say we wouldn't be even better with a combination of Rondo Durant and Paul Pierce.
The NBA has a flawed system that is very easily manipulated, as seen by the Cavaliers getting 2 picks in the top 4 after seeing Lebron take home his 2nd championship since leaving Cleveland. I can give up thousands of conspiracy theories on how David Stern caters to certain teams while turning a blind eye to others but that would be just that, theories. Luckily Stern is gone in a few months so he wont have his fingers over another championship for whichever star he is favoring at the time.
Either way, basketball season is upon us and its a joyous time for everyone, unless you don't like Lebron in which case I'd suggest you stay away from Sportscenter
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